


The Unfortunate Archer

by GingerBreton



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, F/M, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 17:44:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16707052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GingerBreton/pseuds/GingerBreton
Summary: aka Target Practice***Warden Ysabelle is a dangerously bad archer.  Poor Alistair is not having a good time of it.  Leliana takes it upon herself to try and show her the ropes.***One shot from a prompt suggested on tumblr.





	The Unfortunate Archer

There was one undeniable fact about Ysabelle, one that all of her companions could agree on. She was a terrible archer. Despite a number of her cousins being archers, in her youth she’d never had the strength in her arms to even attempt to learn while she still travelled with the caravan. Then their family had relocated to Denerim; with its close quarters and winding streets it was definitely not the setting for her to learn such a skill. 

Her ability with blades was becoming increasingly formidable the longer they through travelled Ferelden. Her skills stretching to swords, daggers and throwing knifes; but it was her ability with the latter than made her complete inability to hit anything with an arrow even more inexplicable to her friends. They had joked that even if there was an ogre coming straight at her, she’d be more likely to knock Alistair’s sword out of his hand than hit the creature. In fact, it had been on such an occasion that Leliana had decided to stage an intervention. 

At camp, as Alistair attempted to remove the offending arrowhead from his shield, weighing up the merits of moving to a heavier one, Leliana decided it was time to take Ysabelle aside and at least impart the basics of archery… or ban her from ever picking up a bow again. 

“Izzy,” her warm Orlesian lilt catching the attention of the woman who had been sheepishly watching Alistair make his repairs. She beckoned her over with a gentle smile. “I think maybe it’s time I show you some tricks with a bow, no?”

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Lel? There’s an awful lot us around for me to hit.”

“I’m sure,” she laid a reassuring hand on Ysabelle’s shoulder, guiding her past the circle of tents to where her bow and some simple iron arrows were waiting.

“Right, I’m getting out of the way for this,” piped up Alistair, dropping his shield and heading over to the treeline. Both women shot him a sour look on his way past.

“So, I’ve been watching your form and I think I know one main area where you are going wrong. You take your eye off the target too soon. I know it’s different with your swords, and you need to constantly scan your surroundings because you move so much,” she consoled Ysabelle, recognising the look of disappointment in her abilities flashing across her eyes. “You are still a novice archer though, for now you need to remain still and focus on one opponent at a time.”

Leliana handed the bow to her student and pointed toward a large fallen tree ahead of them.

“We’ll start with trying to hit the tree, no? It doesn’t matter where you aim for, just pick a spot and concentrate on it.”

Izzy nocked an arrow, and took aim, drawing the bow string back until it was level with her chin, and focussed on a large knot halfway down the trunk. She glanced at her teacher for reassurance that she was doing as she should. Leliana nodded approvingly, a smile playing at her lips as she thought of what she considered Ysabelle’s main source of distraction.

She leaned across and whispered teasingly in her friend’s ear, “Now concentrate and hold your focus on your target until the arrow is in flight. And try not to think about Alistair this time.”

“What?!” came the panicked yelp from Izzy, twisting to look at Leliana, her face turning a glowing shade of beetroot. Her concentration had dissolved in a second and, as it happened, so had her grip on the bowstring.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” the shout came from where Alistair had started chopping wood. There was an arrow sticking out of a tree trunk right next to his head. “She’s trying to kill me. I swear to the Maker, she is trying to kill me,” he muttered to himself, startled eyebrows practically lost in his hairline. 

Leliana and Ysabelle froze; Lel with her hands clapped over her mouth, while Izzy just gawped, their eyes wide with horror. 

“T’is a pity,” Morrigan called merrily from across the camp. “You’ll get him next time!” 

At Morrigan’s mocking Alistair stormed off to his tent with a shout of, “Please practice elsewhere!”

As soon as Alistair was out of sight Leliana dissolved into fits of giggles. She could see Morrigan laughing to herself at the opposite end of the camp; nothing tickled the woman like misfortune befalling Alistair.

“Noooooooo,” groaned Ysabelle from where she had slumped onto the ground, holding her head in her hands. “Why can’t I just shoot me?”

“Come on,” urged Leliana once she could control her giggles. She put a consolatory arm around her friend’s shoulders. “We will go to the clearing down the hill and we won’t come back until you can shoot straight! There shouldn’t be too much in the way of distractions down there.”

“Less of the distraction talk if you don’t mind,” Izzy pouted as Leliana helped her to her feet. 

The two women disappeared off into the woods, bows in hand and determined looks on their faces. 

It was twilight by the time they returned. Not only were they remarkably uninjured, but they had also managed to catch a couple of rabbits for supper. Ysabelle had to admit that Leliana was an excellent teacher, in spite of the now incessant gentle teasing. As for Leliana, her mind had been set at ease in the knowledge that, even though her friend was not an excellent markswoman, she was at least unlikely to accidentally kill any of them any time soon.

**Author's Note:**

> This one shot features characters from my new long fic - The Time for Vigilance is Over'.
> 
> Thank you for taking the time to read and thank you to weirdnproudofit on Tumblr for suggesting 'warden learning archery from Leliana'.


End file.
